Forbidden West End:
Christina Bianco
The singer, impressionist, Edinburgh Festival diva and YouTube megastar joins
Forbidden Broadway in London. The American finds out how she got there.

C

hristina Bianco’s journey to
the bright lights of (Forbidden)
Broadway and London’s West End
began in Suffern, New York. Forgive
us, good people of Suffern, but The
American’s team has never heard of
your town. We’re sure it’s lovely.
“It’s OK,” explains Christina, “it’s
a small town 45 minutes from New
York City. But many people all over
the world think they know Suffern
because an episode of Sex In The City
was set there. Unfortunately they
completely fabricated everything
about it, except its name. They made
it look like it was all farmland and
wilderness. The must have missed
the strip mall when they got off the
highway!
“Both my parents grew up in the
Bronx, and when they got married
they wanted to settle close to where
they grew up. At an early age they
realized how much I loved to sing
and perform and they always supported and encouraged me. Being
close to the city it was easy for me
to see the theater and participate
in summer programs and everything the city had to offer. I grew
up in a very musical home, there
was always music playing, of every
genre. My mother is a gifted piano
player, she was in a band in high
school, but she never did it professionally. My father worked in radio

38 October 2014

so there were always cassettes and
records and CDs around the house.”
Italian-American families always
seem to be musical. “Yes - people
always ask me how such a big voice
comes out of such a little body - I’m
really short - and I say I’m Italian,
we’re born yelling!”
Most people will first have heard
of Christina on YouTube. Videos
of her singing ‘Total Eclipse of the
Heart,’ Katy Perry’s ‘Firework’ and
‘Let It Go’ from Disney’s Frozen in
the voices of a myriad of divas have
totalled nearly fifteen million views
at the time of writing. She impersonates, among many more, Barbra
Streisand, Celine Dion, Adele, Lady
Gaga, Amy Winehouse, Bernadette
Peters, Bette Midler, Cher, Christina
Aguilera, Edith Piaf, Gwen Stefani,
Judy Garland, Julie Andrews, Alanis
Morissette, Idina Menzel, Kelly
Clarkson, Kristin Chenoweth, Liza
Minnelli, Norah Jones, Patti LuPone,
Shakira, Zooey Deschanel and, er,
Sarah Palin.
She had done a lot on stage
before, but was YouTube Christina’s
big break? “I posted a few for family
and friends just for fun, as you do,
three or four years ago. The ‘Firework’ one went ‘semi-viral’ and Capital FM radio in England asked me
to do something for them. Shortly
thereafter I was making my British

debut at the Hippodrome Casino,
so I thought it would be nice - we’d
book a few shows and cancel one
if they didn’t sell. In August of last
year I posted the ‘Total Eclipse...’
video and never did I imagine it
would change my career so much.
The Hippodrome shows all sold out
and we added more. Treat yourself
and take a look, and keep an eye on
YouTube for her new videos.
“I’ve always performed, but only
recently have I added the impressions. Now my audience is not only
cabaret-lovers, but young kids who
like the contemporary impressions
like Britney Spears, and an older
crowd who know me from the Paul
O’Grady television show in England
- they like that I do Edith Piaf.” Christina does well over 50 voices and is
adding more all the time - one new
impression is the young singer and
actress Ariana Grande.
“I’ve always been such an
Anglophile. I joke that I was born on
the wrong continent. All the kids at
school would rush home and watch
Full House and Family Ties, and I’d
be watching Absolutely Fabulous
and Blackadder. I love speaking
impressions too and I’m working on
Miranda Hart - a very different voice
from mine. Katherine Parkinson
from The IT Crowd is my all-time
favorite right now. [Christina gives a